Friday, 14 September 2012

Lynas left holding the baby

“Lynas
has now submitted an application to the regulator, the Australian
Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), to import
radioactive waste from Malaysia,” an Australian High Commission
spokesman told The Malaysian Insider today.

This
revelation beggars belief as just a few days ago a two-year temporary
licence to operate was granted to Lynas, who intend to ship radioactive
ores through Fremantle Port to export them to their plant in Malaysia,
now seem to be asserting that they should be able to import the wastes
of those ores back onto Australian soil.

Malaysia’s
nuclear regulator Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) had said that
the Australian miner was legally bound to remove radioactive waste from
its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) and return the residue to
Australia under conditions of the temporary operating licence. However
this news flies in the face of Australian government policy, and indeed
Western Australian legislation, which asserts that Australia does not
accept or import radioactive waste from other countries.

“It
seems that again Lynas thinks it is outside the law as it is operating
in Malaysia, and may be subject to less rigorous legal scrutiny. Well it
isn’t, and if it thinks that Western Australia will take this
radioactive waste, it can think again.

“It
didn’t consult with community on shipping its radioactive ores through
Fremantle port, and it certainly hasn’t consulted on shipping back the
radioactive waste. The WA Nuclear Waste Storage (Prohibition) Act 1999
prohibits it here. Period!

But
really, you have to laugh. Lynas has now been tripped up by its own
lack of willingness to take heed of Australia’s expectations with
respect to sustainable mining and environmental, social and legal
standards, and hasn’t it got it’s come-uppance. Talk about being left
holding the baby!

To quote the great Michael Franks, ‘And i'm blamin' you 'Cause now I'm all dressed up and I got Nowhere to go’”.